Your Fave Is Catholic: Michael Crawford (real name: Michael Patrick Smith)
Known for: Tony Award winning English actor of theater & film, singer, & comedian, he is best known for his portrayal of The Phantom of the Opera in the original Broadway run of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical of the same name. He started his career in film, & after finding success as an actor he transitioned to the stage, & since then he’s found success in both mediums (though he mainly sticks to musical theater these days). His filmography includes films such as The War Lover, Two Left Feet, The Knack…. & How To Get It, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, The Jokers, How I Won The War, Hello Dolly!, The Games, Hello-Goodbye, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Condorman, Barnum, Once Upon A Forest, & Wall-E (in archive footage from Hello, Dolly!). Besides The Phantom of the Opera, his theater credits also include Black Comedy/White Lies, No Sex Please, We’re British, Billy, Flowers For Algernon, Barnum, EFX, Dance of the Vampires, The Woman in White, The Wizard of Oz, & The Go-Between. Because of his success in musical film & theater, he also has recorded several albums where he sings many beloved classic songs, & he also supports many charities that support the well being of children, & he is the president of The Sick Children’s Trust.
This highlights video features Michael Crawford as The Phantom, Dale Kristien as Christine, and Michael Piontek as Raoul. It is by and far the best footage of Crawford in the show to date, with the ability to see more details such as facial expressions.
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Remembering Maria Björnson on what would’ve been her 72nd Birthday. Thank you for everything Maria.
A rare pic of Maria on stage. Only saw this one a few months ago when checking in on topfoto’s collection which they seem to update regularly. Rare to see Maria photographed on stage. Here she is here at The Majestic with Michael Crawford. Christine is labelled as Sarah Brightman but I really can’t tell. It could be her but it also could be Patti Cohenour/Dale Kristien.
So apparently for the 1st anniversary of the Las Vegas production, they had a Michael Crawford wax figure at the Venetian. I don’t know how long it stayed there, but by October 2010 it was reported to have been put in storage.
A Pre-Tonys show 1988 (First week of June, perhaps?) Has clips from the nominees, but focuses most on Phantom. Has an interview with Michael Crawford and backstage clips of Phantom of the cast changing costumes. Transfer from VHS
